I’ll have something new up on Monday, sorry for the mini-hiatus, but it’s July, you know how it is. Until then, watch this and smile again. I do every time.
July 23rd, 2010
Typically, patience isn’t a strong suit of sports fans. Instant gratification is the name of the game. Fans are paying money, they’re living and dying with their favorite teams games every night, they don’t want to hear about some rebuilding plan that’s going to force them to wait a few years for success. They want it now. And when their favorite team is closing in on that success they’ve been so impatiently waiting for, they want them to stop at nothing to obtain it. Clear the bench of those not ready to contribute in a meaningful way or those associated too closely with past failures. Toss the talentless, free the city of its past ghosts and move on.
That’s why Milwaukee has wanted to see the back of Michael Redd’s number 22 jersey walking out of the Bradley Center never to return for a number of years. He’s a link to the old regime, he and Dan Gadzuric, deservedly or not, were symbolic of everything that’s been bad in Milwaukee Bucks basketball over the past twenty years. Overpaid, under-productive and defensively deficient. Long ago the city of Milwaukee’s patience with Michael Redd ran out.
And at this point, that seems fair.
But why has patience already begun to wear thin for rookie Tiny Gallon? Continue reading Patience: None for Redd, More for Gallon
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Michael Redd, Tiny Gallon
July 20th, 2010
In a seemingly impossible turn of events, it has become even more crowded inside for the Milwaukee Bucks. When Milwaukee left for Vegas Summer League last Sunday, they did so with Darnell Jackson seemingly in line to split the majority of minutes at the power forward position for the week in Vegas. Of course, Jackson was fighting an uphill battle to stay on the roster come October, much less earn any minutes. But it seemed he’d be in line to prove himself in Vegas.
And after his first game, Jackson seemed like he was heading for a bright week. He scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and looked like Milwaukee’s most polished player. Yet still, as good as Jackson looked, he was still low man on the totem pole that’s become the Bucks power forward situation. He was the most likely to move, and moved he will be in the coming days … for another power forward?
What’s interesting about the Bucks upcoming acquisition of Jon Brockman is that they are getting a player more talented than Jackson and with more of a rotation player ceiling. Brockman could step in and give the Bucks a solid rebounding, hustling power forward for 15 minutes-per-game starting tomorrow if need be. He’s without question better than Darnell Jackson.
And that only leaves things more complicated today than they were yesterday when it comes to the Bucks big man rotation. But not necessarily in a bad way. The depth the Bucks have merely gives them a variety of options for the time being. I’ll go through each of the Bucks options at power forward and attempt to make their probable role a bit more clear. Continue reading “Options” the key word at power forward for the Bucks
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Darnell Jackson, Drew Gooden, Ersan Ilyasova, Jon Brockman, Larry Sanders, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Tiny Gallon
July 19th, 2010
The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Keyon Dooling to a two-year-deal to backup Brandon Jennings.
After the departure of Luke Ridnour, backup point guard was the last hole on a roster that’s become incredibly deep this off-season. Heading into his 11th season, the 6-foot-3, 195 pound Dooling brings a different dimension to the point guard spot with size the Bucks did not have last season.
Despite the size advantage Dooling has over Ridnour, he’ll be stepping into some pretty big shoes. Ridnour surprised everyone with by far the best season of his career last year, posting a 17.7 PER while dropping jaws with a shooting percentage line of .478/.381/.909. Of course, that merely boosted Ridnour’s career numbers to .424/.347/.864, so it may be difficult for him to replicate last year’s stellar efforts. And without those shooting percentages, Ridnour becomes considerably less valuable. While he led the Bucks in assist percentage last season and generally showed tons of toughness, his size limits him to having success guarding point guards only.
Dooling likely won’t be able to match what Ridnour did offensively last season, but it stands to reason that he can give the Bucks nearly exactly what Ridnour would give them in a typical Luke Ridnour season. Dooling has a career true shooting percentage of .516 and a career effective field goal percentage of .464. Nearly identical are Ridnour’s career numbers of .512 and .463 respectively.
Essentially, the only area in which one could expect Ridnour to easily outshine Dooling next season is free-throw shooting. Ridnour’s career percentage from the line is .864, while Dooling lags slightly behind at .798. Ridnour helped seal a number of games down the line last season, but with a season of work under Jennings belt and the full season additions of John Salmons and Corey Maggette, it seems safe to say Ridnour wouldn’t be needed at the end of games as much. Continue reading Bucks sign Keyon Dooling
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Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Keyon Dooling, Luke Ridnour
July 19th, 2010
The Bucks have acquired Sacramento Kings power forward Jon Brockman in a sign-and-trade for Darnell Jackson and a future second-round pick according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Milwaukee’s power forward situation gets no less complicated, as Brockman is better than Jackson, but not a significant upgrade over any of the remaining Bucks forwards. This likely leaves Tiny Gallon world’s away from immediate playing time next season, as the thing he does better than anything else is rebounding, Brockman’s greatest strength.
1. Drew Gooden
2. Ersan Ilyasova
3. Larry Sanders
4. Jon Brockman
5. Tiny Gallon
And I haven’t even mentioned Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
So where does that leave Milwaukee? With a team heavy on power forwards that can play some five and a lot of four, moderately deep at the two and three and as shallow as can be at the point guard position. Milwaukee still seems like they’ll need to add a pure point guard or a combo guard behind Brandon Jennings. Luther Head’s name has been mentioned, but other fits may include Travis Diener, Anthony Johnson or Keyon Dooling. The influx of talent and youth at the four over the past month leads one to believe another move may be coming, but it’s hard to imagine the Bucks giving up on any of the young players they have at the power forward position solely to acquire a backup point guard.
If Milwaukee were to deal one of their assets at the four, I’d think they’d be more inclined to get someone who can put in minutes at the one and the two in return. Preferably a player who can defend both point guards and shooting guards and shoot the three.
The addition of Brockman still seems like it is the collecting of an asset, as Brockman was an intriguing rebounder and hustle player last season.
How intriguing?
Nice.
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Jon Brockman
